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This section is set up to provide a ready-made Brown Bag Session
for you to use with employees and/or managers. Use as is, or
adapt this information for a general employee group. You may
reproduce as many copies as needed.
Emotional Intelligence
A
What is it? Why is it Important?
ccording to psychologists Peter Salovey
and John Mayer, emotional intelligence
may be defined as, “the accurate appraisal
and expression of emotion in oneself and in others, the effective regulation of emotion in self and
others, and the use of feelings to motivate, plan,
and achieve in one’s life.” Put another way, this
concept means recognizing that emotions can
impact behavior and affect people (positively and
negatively), therefore it’s important to learn how
to manage those emotions – both our own and
others – especially when we are under stress.
When emotional intelligence came on the
scene in the 1990s, it presented a most unusual
finding: people with average IQs outperform
those with the highest IQs 70% of the time. This
concept threw a monkey wrench into what many
people had always assumed was the only source
of success — intelligence quotient, or IQ. Today,
research points to emotional intelligence as the
crucial element that separates star performers
from the rest of the pack.
Emotional intelligence is pretty intangible,
but it’s something that dwells within each of us.
Emotional intelligence, or EQ, “affects how we
manage behavior, navigate social complexities,
and make personal decisions that achieve positive
results.”
What Emotional Intelligence Is
Salovey and Mayer introduced the concept
of emotional intelligence and demonstrated
how it might be measured. They believed that
people with high EI (their term for emotional
intelligence) could solve a variety of emotionrelated problems, and do so both accurately
and quickly.
High EI people, for example, can accurately
perceive emotions in people’s faces. Such individuals also know how to use emotional incidents
in their lives to promote specific types of thinking.
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For instance, they understand that sadness promotes analytical thought and so they may prefer
to analyze things when they are in a sad mood.
Mayer notes that high EI people also grasp the
meanings that emotions convey: “They know that
angry people can be dangerous, that happiness
means that someone wants to join with others, and
that some sad people may prefer to be alone.”
Does Emotional Intelligence Exist?
To test whether EI exists, Salovey, Mayer,
and David Caruso developed a number of
ability measures. They wanted to determine
if they could measure emotional intelligence
abilities, if these abilities improved with
age (generally thought to be a characteristic
of intelligence), and if, taken together, they
formed a cohesive intelligence.
One sort of test question they devised asked
test-takers to identify the emotions expressed in a
photograph of a face: for instance, to understand
that sadness might be indicated by a frown. Another type of question asked people how emotional reactions unfold. For example:
Mike was sad, but an hour later he felt guilty.
What happened in between? (Choose one):
A. Mike took a neighbor to a medical appointment
to help him out.
B. Mike lacked the energy to call his mother,
and missed calling her on her birthday.
High EI test-takers recognize that alternative
B, the missed birthday phone call, would better
account for Mike’s change in mood from sadness
to guilt.
The ability to answer such questions correctly appears to improve as children grow older. In addition,
people who perform well in some areas also tend to
do well on others as well. “For these reasons and others, EI is now believed to exist and is considered by
many to be an established intelligence.”
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What Emotional Intelligence is Not
The concept of emotional intelligence is not
always readily understood. The researchers note
that emotional intelligence is not agreeableness,
optimism, happiness, nor is it calmness or motivation. “Such qualities, although important, have
little to do with intelligence, little to do with emotions, and nearly nothing to do with actual emotional intelligence.”
Mayer and his colleagues suggested in an
American Psychologist article, “… groups of
widely studied personality traits, including
motives such as the need for achievement, selfrelated concepts such as self-control, emotional
traits such as happiness, and social styles such
as assertiveness should be called what they are,
rather than being mixed together in haphazardseeming assortments and named emotional
intelligence.”
Positivity Ratio
As noted in this month’s cover story in
Employee Assistance Report, determining an individual’s positivity ratio is an important part of
growing an individual’s emotional intelligence.
Psychologist Barbara Frederickson recommends
promoting a 3:1 Positivity Ratio – in other
words, a ratio of 3 positive experiences to every
1 that is negative. The idea is that since people
often remember negative experiences much
more than positive ones, using this 3:1 ratio
when working with clients can help offset this
negative tendency.
Sample of a Positivity Self-Test
How positive are you? More important, how
positive are the individuals participating in this
Brown Bag session? Ask participants to review
the past day (i.e., from this time yesterday up to
right now). Using Dr. Frederickson’s 0-4 scale
listed below, each participant should indicate the
greatest degree that he or she experienced each of
the following feelings.
0 = Not at all
1 = A little bit
2 = Moderately
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3 = Quite a bit
4 = Extremely
• What is the most amused, fun-loving, or silliest that you felt? ______________________
• What is the angriest, most irritated or annoyed
you felt? _____________________________
• What is the most ashamed, humiliated, or disgraced you felt? ________________________
• What is the greatest sense of awe, wonder, or
amazement you felt? _____________________
• What is the most contemptuous, scornful, or
disdainful you felt? ______________________
• What is the most disgusted, distasteful, or revulsive you felt? ___________________________
• What is the most embarrassed or self-conscious
you felt? ______________________________
• What is the most grateful, appreciative, or
thankful you felt? _______________________
• What is the guiltiest, most repentant or blameworthy you felt? ________________________
• What is the most hateful, distrustful, or suspicious you felt? __________________________
• What is the most hopeful, optimistic, or encouraged you felt? __________________________
• What is the most inspired, uplifted, or elevated
you felt? ______________________________
• What is the most interested, alert, or curious
you felt? ______________________________
• What is the most joyful, glad, or happiest you
felt?___________________________________
• What is the most love, closeness, or trust
you felt? ____________________________
• What is the proudest, most confident or selfassured you felt? ________________________
• What is the saddest, most downhearted or
unhappiest you felt? _____________________
• What is the most scared, fearful, or afraid you
felt? __________________________________
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• What is the most serene, content, or peaceful
you felt? ______________________________
• What is the most stressed, nervous, or overwhelmed you felt? ______________________
To gain a more reliable picture of your positivity ratio, Dr. Frederickson recommends that
participants take this same short survey each evening for two weeks. However, even then, don’t be
discouraged if you’re not pleased with the results.
According to Dr. Frederickson, 80% of adults fall
short of the suggested 3-to-1 ratio.
“The concept of emotional intelligence has become a very hot topic
of psychological research in recent
years, especially in regards to how it
affects today’s workforce. Businesses
are essentially people, so anything
that impacts the effectiveness of
people’s minds also impacts the
businesses they run or work for.”
(Editor’s note: In addition to the 3:1 Positivity Ratio, other suggestions on growing emotional
intelligence are presented in this month’s cover
story in Employee Assistance Report.)
Why Emotional Intelligence is Important
The concept of emotional intelligence has
become a hot topic of psychological research in
recent years, especially in regards to how it affects
today’s workforce. Businesses are essentially
people, so anything that impacts the effectiveness
of people’s minds also impacts the businesses
they run or work for. According to writer and
consultant Royale Scuderi, the following are a
few of the ways in which emotional intelligence
is important:
v Mental well-being – Emotional intelligence affects our attitude and outlook on life. It
can also help alleviate anxiety and avoid depression and mood swings. A high level of emotional
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intelligence directly correlates to a positive attitude and happier outlook on life.
v Relationships – By better understanding
and managing our emotions, we are better able to
communicate our feelings in a more constructive
way. We are also better able to understand and
relate to those with whom we are in relationships.
Understanding the needs, feelings, and responses
of those we care about leads to stronger and more
fulfilling relationships.
v Conflict resolution – When we can discern people’s emotions and empathize with their perspective,
it’s much easier to resolve conflicts or possibly avoid
them before they start. We are also better at negotiation due to the nature of our ability to understand the
needs and desires of others. It’s easier to give people
what they want if we can perceive what it is.
(Editor’s note: For additional examples, see
the Handout section on page 4.)
Summary
Numerous experts believe that an individual’s
emotional intelligence quotient (EQ) may be more
important than his or her IQ and is certainly a better predictor of success, quality of relationships,
and overall happiness.
References
Frederickson, B. (2009). Positivity: Discover the real power
of positivity.
Mayer, J.D. (2009, Sept. 21). What emotional intelligence is
and is not. Psychology Today.com. Retrieved from https://
www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-personality-analyst/200909/what-emotional-intelligence-is-and-is-not.
Mayer, J.D.; Salovey, P.; Caruso, D. (2008). Emotional
intelligence: New ability or eclectic traits? American
Psychologist, 63, 503-517.
Scuderi, R. (n.d.) Emotional intelligence: Why is it important?
Lifehack. Retrieved from http://www.lifehack.org/articles/
communication/emotional-intelligence-why-important.html
TalentSmart (2017). About emotional intelligence: What
everyone needs to know: Emotional intelligence is the
other kind of smart.
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There are Numerous Reasons Why
Emotional Intelligence is Important
support, overcome setbacks, and persevere with a
more resilient outlook. Our ability to delay gratification and see the long-term directly affects our
ability to succeed.
E
motional intelligence involves an individual’s ability to recognize and understand
our emotions and reactions, referred to as
self-awareness; manage and adapt one’s emotions,
reactions and responses, known as self-management; and to discern the feelings of others, understand their emotions, and use this understanding to
better relate to others, or empathy.
v Leadership – The ability to understand
what motivates others, relate in a positive manner, and to build stronger bonds with others
in the workplace inevitably makes those with
higher emotional intelligence better leaders. An
effective leader can recognize what the needs of
his people are, so that those needs can be met in
a way that encourages higher performance and
workplace satisfaction. An emotionally savvy
and intelligent leader is also able to build stronger teams by strategically utilizing the emotional
diversity of their team members to benefit the
team as a whole.
Ways in Which Emotional Intelligence is Important
There are numerous ways in which emotional
intelligence is important. Several of them were
listed in the main section of this Brown Bagger
insert. Others are listed here:
v Physical health – The ability to take care of
our bodies and especially to manage our stress,
which has an incredible impact on our overall
wellness, is heavily tied to our emotional intelligence. Only by being aware of our emotional
state and our reactions to stress in our lives can we
hope to manage stress and maintain good health.
v Success – Higher emotional intelligence
helps us to be stronger internal motivators,
which can reduce procrastination, increase selfconfidence, and improve our ability to focus on a
goal. It also allows us to create better networks of
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Summary
Emotional intelligence is still not completely
understood, but we do know that emotions play a
crucial role in the overall quality of our personal
and professional lives, more critical even than our
measure of intelligence quotient (IQ).
Source: Royale Scuderi, “Emotional Intelligence: Why is it
Important?”
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